Gary West

Newport News, VA, October 1, 2009 – In a candidate forum tonight, hosted by Voices for Virginia’s Children, Delegate Glenn Oder attempted to distort the facts surrounding the endorsement of his opponent, Gary West, by the Virginia Education Association. Claiming that he skipped the candidate screening to go “on vacation” Delegate Oder implied that the endorsement of Gary West was a mistake. In fact, no mistake was made and the fact that Delegate Oder chose to vacation rather than appear before the group had no bearing on their decision.

In an August statement endorsing Gary West, Virginia Education Association cited “the incumbents past voting record on issues affecting public education” as a determining factor in the endorsement. This voting record includes HB1579 (2009), sponsored by Delegate Oder. Virginia Education Association President, Kitty Boinott, expressed her opposition to this proposal in unambiguous terms:

”This is absolutely the wrong time to pit the interests of the construction industry against Virginia’s school children. The proposal to divert these hundreds of millions in funds comes at a time when the current revenue stream is insufficient to fund current education and other core state programs. Our members understand the importance of addressing Virginia’s transportation needs, but surely we can find a way to pay for it that doesn’t penalize our schools and our students.”

Additionally, the Virginia Education Association has been given little reason to support Delegate Oder over the past few years. Oder received a rating of zero (0) from the organization in 2008 and 2009. This rating is based on the Educators scoring system which evaluates the legislator’s adherence to their recommendations. Because Delegate Oder has voted in opposition to the Virginia Education Association on every piece of legislation presented, the organization has determined that his presence in the legislature is dangerous to the preservation of quality education in Virginia.